Origin

Form goes back to Latin forma ‘a mould or form’, and is an element in many English words such as conform (Middle English) make like something else; deform (Late Middle English) ‘mis-shape’; and reform (Middle English) ‘put back into shape’. Formal (Late Middle English) originally meant ‘relating to form’, and developed the sense ‘prim, stiff’ in the early 16th century. Format (mid 19th century) came via French and German from Latin formatus (liber) ‘shaped (book)’. Formula (early 17th century) was in Latin a ‘little form’ and was at first a fixed form of words used in ceremonies. Use in chemistry is from the mid 19th century.